Widow of murdered Scots cop marks 30th anniversary of death with calls for Taser training

dailyrecord.co.uk:

It’s been three decades since Christine Fulton lost her husband Lewis, the last police officer in Scotland killed in the line of duty.No others have died since – in no small part due to her determination that every officer be issued with body armour.But as police numbers go down and the violence they face rises, Christine, awarded an MBE for a lifetime of helping families of wounded or killed officers, has a new aim – getting every officer trained to carry a Taser.She believes it also would have saved her 28-year-old husband’s life in 1994 when he was stabbed by schizophrenic teenager Philip McFadden in Glasgow’s Gorbals.Christine said: “Tasers are the way forward.

I would like to see all officers Taser-trained.“There was an incident in London recently where a police officer using a Taser took out a man carrying a samurai sword.

Something like that would have worked with McFadden and saved Lewis’s life.“I would also like to see bodycams rolled out for all officers as they are also an effective deterrent.”About 2000 officers out of 16,300 in Scotland are trained to use Tasers.

They are normally used to incapacitate threatening or violent people.Christine’s call is echoed by Scottish Police Federation chairman David Threadgold, who wants all officers to be issued with the devices because they can de-escalate incidents.To mark the 30th anniversary of Lewis’s death, an award has been created in his name by his family.